Page 34 of First Love, Second Draft

“First off, I wouldn’t call five years after our divorce a ‘rush to move on.’ Secondly, Luke’s a good guy. He’s areallygood guy. Any woman would be lucky to have a guy like him to move on with after—”Going crazy losing a guy like you.“I just like who I am with him, okay? He’s... He’s...”

“What? Mysterious?”

“Safe.”

Noah’s chin jutted back as if that was the last word he expected. Honestly, it was kind of the last word Gracie expected. But now that she’d said it, the word rang true. Lukewassafe.

“I can take care of you, Gracie,” Noah said.

Gracie knew he wasn’t boasting. Just stating a fact. She didn’t know the exact sum of his income anymore, but she knew it had to be hefty. And just like when they divorced, she didn’t want a single penny of it. “This isn’t about money.”

“Who says I’m talking about money?”

She couldn’t hold his gaze. Couldn’t continue this conversation. Where it might lead scared her too much. Some days she didn’t have the strength to keep pushing Noah away.

But if she’d learned anything, she’d learned that Noah was the complete opposite of safe. With him, she risked everything.

She’d paid that price once already. She wouldn’t pay it again.

“I really need to get back to work.”

“Fine.” Noah straightened, running his knuckles over his smooth cheeks. “But don’t think about taking those stairs again without me. I’ll be in the living room when you need me.”

“I won’t need you.” If she said it enough times, maybe someday she’d believe it. “For a while.” She added the last bit solely for his benefit. Otherwise he might never leave the room.

Noah retreated to the doorway. She almost allowed herself tobreathe easy. But his soft voice carried back to her. “I would, you know. Take care of you. If only you’d let me.”

She closed her eyes as his footsteps disappeared down the stairs. She didn’t even attempt to take a full breath. So long as Noah remained in her life, there was no such thing as breathing easy.

16

A clamor of barks echoed off the walls. Matt hunched his shoulders to block some of the noise as he scooped food into a dish for the new mutt that’d arrived earlier this morning.

He gave her a quick scratch behind the ears while Snarls, a Chihuahua mix in the cage next to them, jumped without bending his legs in a rat-a-tat motion. Matt squatted, holding the Chihuahua’s buggy-eyed gaze through the chain links. “You watch your mouth, pal. There’s ladies present.”

“I don’t think he cares,” a soft voice said behind Matt. So soft he almost missed it with all the barking.

Matt jumped to his feet. “Aimee. Hi. Hello. Hey.” Good grief, should he throw in anHolawhile he was at it? He forced a smile that probably looked about as natural as a ventriloquist dummy’s grin. “What brings you by?”

He hadn’t seen her since they shared one of the world’s most awkward breakups a little over a month ago. Which in a way brought things full circle. Their entire relationship had been awkward. Probably because it had such an awkward beginning.

“I found this in my car.” She held up a coupon for a free two-liter soda with the purchase of a large Casey’s pizza. “It’s yours. Thought I should give it back to you. Since we’re not together anymore. And it’s yours.”

“Oh.” Matt took the coupon from her. “Thanks.”

“Do you have anything of mine?”

“What?” A cacophony of barks continued ricocheting off the concrete walls.

“I thought I might’ve left behind a sweater or something at your place?”

“Uh... no. Sorry. I can’t think of anything. Unless you want the cactus?” It was technically his cactus and technically a dead cactus—he shouldn’t have watered it so much—but after five years of dating he felt kind of bad they didn’t have a single thing to return to each other besides a coffee-stained coupon that had likely already expired.

“Can I ask you a question?” Aimee took a step back, bumping into the cage behind her. A shepherd mix jumped up to eye level and let out several deep barks. She flinched and plugged her ears.

“Jonesy,” Matt said, snapping his fingers. “Down. And you—enough.” He pointed his finger at the mouthy Chihuahua. “Sorry about that,” he said to Aimee once the dogs finally quieted down enough for them to talk again.

She unplugged her ears, shooting all the dogs a wary look. “Did you break up with me because of Rachel?”

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